


The Life of Anisa al Ghul

by Niaa



Series: Within the Walls of Nanda Parbat [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bondage, Dark, F/M, Leauge of Assassins, Nanda Parbat, Other tags to be added, Power Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-05 02:34:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4162383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niaa/pseuds/Niaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow Oliver Queen as Al Sah-him and Felicity Smoak as Anisa al Ghul as they build a new life together within the walls of Nanda Parbat. </p><p>Story set in the same AU as The Death of Felicity Smoak. I would strongly recommend that you read that one first. Each chapter will show a little snippet of their shared life in a non chronological order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Six Months Pregnant

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Only a couple of days since I posted the last chapter of the Death of Felicity Smoak and I honestly have been very surprised by the amount of response I received for that. Thank you so much! And I am sorry for hurting you like that, but that seemed like the best ending for the story.
> 
> As promised, this fic will further explore the AU that i started in the first one.
> 
> This particular chapter is a thank you from me to all my readers, as well as an apology for causing you so much pain. It's the lightest little snippet I have ever written in this AU, so I think you will enjoy it.
> 
> The prompt for this chapter of pregnant Felicity has been given by OhhMyyDarla.
> 
> Feel free to send me more prompts, guys.

As far as Anisa al Ghul was concerned, there was nothing in the world that was better than a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream and a good horror show. Or it might be several pints of said ice cream, but the blonde was quite content with just the one in her lap right now. 

She was sitting crossed legged on one of the comfortable couches in the family room with her laptop on the coffee table right in front of her, playing the latest piece of horror cinematography that she managed to get her hands on. It was really a tragedy that she managed to convince her husband to install easy access to the Wi-Fi in Nanda Parbat only weeks ago. The woman was not the only one suffering from the complete lack of Internet in the fortress.

“You know, by the time you are born you will have your father wrapped around your little fingers, Miss Heir to the Demon,” Anisa said to her swollen tummy as she gave it a pat, receiving a little kick in return. 

The blonde was certain that her first child was going to be a girl. She had decided so two weeks ago and wouldn’t be moved from her position by any arguments. Al Sah-him had given up on that topic a long time ago because soon after the pregnancy became known, his wife stated that they would be having twins. Only to change her mind a week later. And then again after another week, and again after a month and on and on it went. 

Currently, the Demon’s Head stood by the door, shaking his head slightly at his wife’s words, not having made his presence known to her just yet. The woman’s pregnancy was more grueling on him than he thought it would be. Everything appeared to be changing around them and he struggled to keep a level of control over the situation as his lead his growing family down the path they were supposed to go. 

His wife had abandoned her robe for the day, leaving the black velvet garment hanging over the back of one of the chairs. Underneath, she wore the comfortable clothing meant for training and not the dress that was meant to be in their place. Hardly any difference could be seen, however, when she donned the robes. So he didn’t say anything. 

Al Sah-him stepped forward, tapping the woman gently on her shoulder to announce his presence. 

“Holy cow!” she yelled, jumping in her seat and whipping her head around to face him, nearly dropping her ice cream on the floor in the process. Her brows were set in an angry line, ready to yell at anyone who disturbed her show watching, until she recognized her husband. “Al Sah-him! You weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow night!” 

“Luckily I was able to finish my mission early.” His voice was quiet, but rough and he wore the frown on his face that told Anisa that he was not entirely happy. He came around to sit on the couch beside her, leaving a little space between them. “Where did you get that ice cream?” came his first question, the Demon’s eyes not missing a single detail of what surrounded the woman. The frozen treat was not the type that was usually supplied to Nanda Parbat. 

“Shahid brought it for me. He brought much more than this. The poor lad actually took my threat of slow roasting him over some coals seriously,” Anisa answered, shaking her head in disbelief, before putting another spoonful of said ice cream into her mouth. As if she would ever do something that horrifying. 

The Demon had to lower his head in order to hide his own disbelief. He wasn’t quite sure what his wife’s escalated level of naivety made him feel. Shahid was still a student and he specifically assigned the nineteen-year-old youth as a servant to his wife a week ago in order for the former to learn some much needed patience and for the latter not to feel as guilty for disturbing the natural flow of the League. 

The man took her free hand in one of his, enveloping it completely. His thumb stroked the cool pale skin covering her knuckles. “You need not forget who you are married to, my Anisa,” Al Sah-him told her softly. “You are the wife of the Demon. You only need to say one word and an Assassin will kill whomever you desire.”

The blonde’s expression became serious and she turned to face her husband more fully. “I do not desire to kill anyone, Al Sah-him. What I desire is you,” she said softly. 

And Ra’s was shaking his head once again, this time a smirk playing on his lips. “You are incorrigible.” 

She grinned at him and then pouted. “You’ve been away for _three_ days,” she said, wrapping both of her arms around one of his.

“No,” he told her sternly.

The woman pressed her cheek against his shoulder, shifting her body closer to his with a sigh. “The doctors said we are still allowed to.”

“Anisa, you are six months pregnant,” he said, exasperated, his free hand rising to his forehead. 

“And I not getting less pregnant with any passing day.”

The man’s mind was reeling. Anisa was fully taking advantage of him and there was hardly anything he could do about it except to create more distance between them. He attempted to do that, taking on more work assignments that would have him away from Nanda Parbat for days on end. But as hard as he tried, he could never actually stay away from his wife for too long during this pregnancy. If he could, he would have glued her to his side permanently to be sure that she was alright. He should never have allowed her to behave like that and he wouldn’t have had, if it wasn’t for the child growing inside of her. He needed to get a hold of himself before he let his family life spiral out of control completely. 

Al Sah-him stood, taking a few steps away from her to come to stand by the fireplace. 

“At least replace Shahid with someone else,” Anisa sighed as she leaned back and picked up the ice cream once again. 

“Fine,” he conceded, even though he shouldn’t have. He needed to learn to pick his battles with a pregnant wife. It would have been a valuable educational experience for both Anisa and Shahid to keep the boy where he was, though. “I still have some work to do,” Al Sah-him said as he turned to face her, his hands locked behind his back.

The blonde did not hold back the sigh, but nodded her head minutely. Of course he had more work. Try as she might to control her emotions, they were wracking havoc in her mind. One moment she wanted to jump her husband and the next she didn’t want to be in the same room with him. But the man himself stood firm, and for that she was grateful because he was one of the only things that did in her life right now. 

“I shall see you later,” he said quietly, leaning down to kiss her forehead before exiting the room, leaving the woman more relaxed than she had been before he arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? Quite different from the usual tone.
> 
> I kinda miss these two having sex. Not sure what I will be writing next yet.
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments :3
> 
> Say hi to me on tumblr
> 
> [theonlyoneofherkind](http://theonlyoneofherkind.tumblr.com)


	2. Breaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important note: the Ra's that we see in this chapter is the same Ra's that we saw on the show. Al Sah-him is still the Heir of the Demon at this point.

The summons from the Demon’s Head had put Anisa on high alert. She was sitting in the library, studiously going over one of the books she had been given to help her learn Arabic when the soldier entered the room. The blonde had been left alone on that late morning, a small break from her constant lessons, in order to help the woman gather her thoughts on everything she was being taught. 

It had been a month since the wedding and almost all of her time since then had been filled with lessons and training. Her muscles still ached from the rigorous exercise they were forced through, her mind still reeling from the amount of content she would have to learn over the next few years to become the next Priestess of Life. The mere amount of knowledge that she had to possess was almost twice as big as the degree she had received from MIT. But Anisa was never a woman who backed down easily and she wouldn’t back down from this. 

Life in Nanda Parbat was hard, that was a given really. What made it harder however, was the fact that she barely saw her husband. Al Sah-him had been distant and cold, and available to her only in the late nights before they retired for the day. The pair shared some meals together in the first few days and in the recent week he had taken over the instruction of one of her training sessions, but apart from that the man was like a ghost to her. 

All of Anisa’s days were very predictable, filled with the same faces of various instructors and the same activities. She hadn’t actually been in the same room with Ra’s al Ghul since the wedding, hence why her nerves had spiked up the moment she was ordered to present herself in one of the main chambers of Nanda Parbat. 

So, having no other choice, the woman left her books behind and followed the soldier as they navigated the long halls of her new home. The fortress was not a place she was ready to traverse in by herself yet. What she did know already was that there was a certain manner of behavior she was expected to display in the presence of the Demon’s Head as well as his heir. She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around some little nuances, however, as informed as she was about them. Say, for one, like everyone else, the wife of the Heir and soon to be Demon’s Head was expected to bow to her spouse. But that was only expected in formal or public instances from her. 

The first Anisa learned of that she laughed and it still didn’t fail to amuse her a month later. Maybe because she had never actually done so, but as she had promised herself and Al Sah-him she was more than willing to take this new role with a serious disposition. So she would bow if that was what they wanted from her. 

However hard she tried to pretend, the truth of the matter was that her new position in the ancient League hadn’t sunk into the woman’s head yet. She was aware of a lot of facts of the everyday life within Nanda Parbat, but she wasn’t living in them yet, not truly. Without realizing, she was putting on a façade for her husband as well as herself, and that fact was going to be put on its head today. 

There was already a small crowd of people present when she entered the main audience chamber. That was where Ra’s conducted most of his talks and work that needed the eyes of the League. Her husband stood directly to his right, the usual stone mask on his face that he displayed in public. His gaze turned to her as she approached, but otherwise remained unchanged. 

Anisa didn’t like Ra’s al Ghul. She was never going to forget the fact that this man was the one who turned Oliver’s and her own lives on their heads even after he would vanish back into the League. Every time she felt the painful sting of her branded skin it would be his face that swam beneath her lids, not Al Sah-him’s. 

But it was his dominion that she lived in now, even if he would soon be replaced by her own husband. Anisa looked forward to that day very much. In the meantime, however, she would have to pay her respects to the man who held the title of the Demon’s Head. 

“My lord,” she murmured in greeting as she came to stand before him, bowing. 

“My child,” Ra’s greeted her in return and the blonde had to suppress a shudder at that title. “Al Sah-him has been hiding you away from the centre of the League. It is high time that you took your rightful place among us and saw for yourself everything that you have been reading about for so long.” 

Anisa looked up to meet their gazes, the three of them standing together; Ra’s, his wife Tasnim, and her Al Sah-him. The woman to the left of the Demon’s Head had an aura of serenity that conflicted with the darkness encompassing everyone else in the room. Her expression was calm and inviting as she gazed at Anisa, lacking the coldness of the two men standing with her. 

Even after all the hours she had spent with Tasnim, the older woman was still a mystery to Anisa. The Priestess of Life and the Demon’s Head were such a dichotomy to each other, yet the union they had between them was nothing short of magical, and the blonde hadn’t even begun to understand it yet, but she knew that over the years she wanted to build something just as magical with her own husband, even without the expectation from others to do so. 

Anisa took her place beside the dark haired woman as directed, bowing her head slightly, and looked forward to those who awaited the attention of the Demon. She had arrived shortly after the beginning of the audience. When the Assassins approached Ra’s they were required to lower their masks to show their naked faces before their master. First they greeted the Demon himself, then his wife, then his heir, and finally Anisa. The breath stilled within the blond as she observed one soldier after another bowing to her. Of course it was not the first time she found someone bowing to her. She lost count of how many times servants had bowed to her, but those were servants and these were some of the most highly ranked Assassins in the League, assassins who were a lot stronger and more powerful than her. 

She watched and listened as the matters were dealt with, remaining silent. Sometimes Ra’s would direct a matter towards Al Sah-him to make a decision on that he would have otherwise made himself and sometimes he would inquire of his wife’s opinion. Ra’s and his wife were the two centers of the League, the two rods that held it standing upright, and not to have them both there would create a misbalance. When Al Sah-him ascended to the position of the Demon’s Head, Tasnim would remain where she was to counsel him as the Priestess of Life for the few years it would take Anisa to learn everything she needed to take that position herself. 

The last person who knelt before them on that day was a man dressed in civilian clothes. 

“This man comes here to beg the Demon for a place within his army,” boomed a soldier that stood little ways away from the four at the front of the room. 

“Does he now?” Ra’s responded softly, the extent of the power he wielded hidden just beneath the surface of his voice. “He would not be serving in my army, though. Al Sah-him,” he turned towards the younger man. “How do you judge this man?” 

The Heir stepped forward, his arms locked behind his back as he approached the man. Al Sah-him looked imposing in his usual uniform and the sword hanging from his belt, but most of it came from the way he held himself and Anisa couldn’t fault the newcomer for trembling slightly as her husband came to stand only a foot away from him. 

“Look at me,” Al Sah-him ordered harshly, his voice low. 

The man flinched at the voice. He was about the same age as Al Sah-him, dark hair hanging limply on his forehead. His thin shoulders were stooped and when he raised his head, he couldn’t make himself meet the Heir’s eyes for more then a second. Even Anisa could see that the man was broken beyond repair. 

“Why did you come here?” her husband boomed.

Again, the man flinched, the trembling in his body becoming great enough to see. “I want to serve you,” he finally answered, his voice weak, and Anisa was surprised that he actually didn’t stutter. 

“Why is that?” came the second question. 

“Because I have no purpose in my own life. I wished to be given another chance.” This time his voice did break as he craned his neck, finally meeting the Heir’s gaze with a steady one of his own. 

“It is a great honour to be able to serve in the army of the Demon’s Head. Tell me, why should I grant you this honour?” Al Sah-him hissed. 

The man’s breath hitched and his body tensed, his eyes flickering once again. “I would die for you.”

There was a frown on Al Sah-him’s forehead as he circled the newcomer, studying him from all sides. “Would you really be willing to die for me?” he asked softly. 

Another pause and the newcomer trembled, breath rushing into his lungs in a gasp. “Yes, my lord.” 

The usual stone mask returned to Al Sah-him’s face as he came to stand before the man once again. The Heir gazed down at the kneeling man for a long moment, the entire room filling with light trepidation. 

“You are not worthy to serve within my army and you will die for demanding the Demon’s Head attention,” he stated quietly as he unsheathed his sword. 

“No,” Anisa spoke softly before she could stop the word from escaping her lips. Her voice was quiet, but easily heard for those standing closest to her, including her husband. The woman’s hand shot up to cover her own mouth as she saw Al Sah-him’s frame turn ever so slightly. 

No further acknowledgement was given to her words and the next sound that penetrated the room was the short cry of the kneeling man as Al Sah-him drove his sword straight through his chest. 

“Well done, my heir,” Ra’s commended quietly as Al Sah-him turned around to face him, blood dripping from his blade. “You have shown great fortitude in battle and leadership in the last two months, but now I wonder,” the Demon’s voice softened to something dangerous, something that made a shiver run down Anisa’s spine. “What kind of leader you would make if you cannot even earn your own wife’s obedience.” 

The breath stilled in the blonde’s throat, her eyes on the man she married, searching for his own gaze, but he did not even glance at her. 

“The matter will be handled,” Al Sah-him spoke, the coldness of his voice causing a kind of dread to build up within Anisa, the kind that she had never felt before and he wasn’t even speaking to her.

“I should hope so,” Ra’s concluded. Not once did either of the men or Tasnim glance in her direction during the whole process, and Anisa wasn’t sure at all how she felt about that.

But she didn’t have time to think on that because in the next moment they were being dismissed and Al Sah-him was taking a firm hold of her elbow. His grip was tight, but not painful. He was angry with her, she could tell. Over the last month Anisa had struggled with her husband’s coldness, but she never questioned the fact that he would ever hurt her and she didn’t do so now. 

He led her down the corridors to one of the empty rooms not too far off the chamber they were in, seeking a moment of privacy.

“You embarrassed me,” Al Sah-him hissed at her, finally meeting her eyes. They were standing only inches apart and the anger that she saw flaring in his gaze, directed at her was not something the blonde was ready for. 

“I…” she begun, her cheeks reddening, not exactly sure what she wanted to say. “I’m sorry, Al Sah-him, it was an accident.”

Since their wedding, Anisa couldn’t remember a single moment when her husband was actually angry with her. The month was trialing, but he was always patient as he helped her learn a new way of life within the League, never becoming upset. This was completely different. 

The man closed his eyes, a deep sigh escaping his lips as he lowered his head slightly. “Go,” he spoke softly this time. “Return to your studies. We will speak more on this matter tonight.” 

Numbness overcame the woman. She opened her mouth to speak but no words actually came out. Al Sah-him was no longer looking at her, his gaze focused somewhere over her shoulder, his jaw still sat in that hard line that signified the existence of his anger. So she stepped around him and headed out of the door, her head hanging slightly in the shame of which origins she was not quite certain of.

Anisa never thought that seeing her own husband so upset with her would strike her this greatly. The blonde’s steps were slow, her mind distracted, when she made her way over to the library again. Tasnim was already sitting at their usual table, ready to greet her with a small smile when she arrived.

“Don’t be so upset, Anisa. You have only just started on this journey.” The older woman’s kind words had a very soothing effect, but the blonde couldn’t make herself return the smile as she sat down. 

“But Al Sah-him-“

“Has his own role to fulfill,” Tasnim explained evenly as she slid a book over in Anisa’s direction. “Trust him, Anisa. He will make certain that the both of you are ready for the challenging step that you are now facing.” 

The blonde’s mouth closed as she contemplated over Tasnim’s words. The emotions that were coursing through her ranged from guilt, to regret, to shame, to confusion and were all quite peculiar because she never quite imagined herself in such a situation. She disappointed her own husband today, something that she never wanted to do, but the fact itself sat strangely in her head. However she tried to turn it over in her head, Anisa still felt slight discomfort in what was expected of her as the wife of the Demon. 

The challenging step that Tasnim spoke of was Al Sah-him’s ascension to the position of Ra’s al Ghul, which was only a few weeks away now, looming over all of them. And Anisa didn’t feel that she was ready for that in that moment. 

For the rest of the day the blonde was unusually quiet as she went about her studies. Tasnim didn’t pry any further into the aspects of her behavior and Anisa was quite grateful for that. When the late night came and Nanda Parbat fell silent as the clamour of constant activity lowered to almost nonexistent, the woman made her way over to her bedroom. 

The multitude of small candles present in the room were already lit by servants and Anisa took her shoes off and curled up on the couch as she waited for her husband. She didn’t have to wait long, he always came around the same time. Her head turned as she heard the door opening and the woman rose to her feet when she saw Al Sah-him appear. In all the hours since their last meeting she had tried to think of what she wanted to say to him, of all the ways she could have tried to explain her reaction to his actions. But as hard as she tried, Anisa couldn’t form her thoughts into the sentences that she wanted. In truth, she was at a complete loss, with Ra’s al Ghul’s words still echoing in her mind. 

Over the past month the woman had obeyed Al Sah-him and made certain to see to all her other responsibilities. But she still refused to submit to him. She came here because she loved Oliver Queen, but Al Sah-him was a much harder man to love, though she supposed Oliver was not completely easy to love either. 

They stood facing each other, not saying a word, each studying the other. The Heir’s demeanor had calmed considerably since the last time she saw him. There was no anger burning in his gaze, but a calmness present there that made the breath still within the woman’s chest. She would have preferred the anger to that. 

“What happened today can never happen again,” he finally spoke, his voice low and rough, containing just a small note of command that was present when he addressed other Assassins.

“Why did you kill him, Al Sah-him?” Anisa found herself asking. She wasn’t quite sure where the question came from. Her voice was soft, but there was a layer of steel behind it. She needed to hear him answer, she realized. 

Her husband’s head tilted slightly, his gaze remaining dark before he spoke again. “That man was dead before I lay my eyes on him, Anisa,” he sated calmly. “He made his choice the moment he stepped foot within Nanda Parbat. He knew that sooner or later his life would be taken from him. He wouldn’t have made it through a month of training. He was too weak, everyone could see that. What I did was merciful.” 

The breath hitched within Anisa once again, her jaw clenching as a fire flared in her eyes. Al Sah-him didn’t miss it. His movements were swift as he stepped forward and grasped her chin in a tight hold. 

“You are angry,” he intoned lowly, voice becoming hard. And just that made the blonde try to step away, but she couldn’t hard as she tried. Her husband held her trapped where she was as the anger sprang in his own orbs. “You have made a choice as well, Anisa,” he growled at her. “Soon, you will be the wife of the most feared man in the world. Are you prepared for the task of being that man’s consort? You have never been a stupid woman. You knew exactly what you were agreeing to before you gave your final answer. And right now I fail to see any strength in you.”

A snarl came from Anisa, her hand rising to pry his own from her chin, but it was no use, because his other wove its way through her hair, tilting her head upwards even more. “Let go of me,” she snapped at him. 

“Why did you come here, Anisa?” the Heir questioned, his grip not loosening. 

“I came here because I love you!” All of her own efforts to get free proved futile and in that moment she realized that there was nothing else for her to do but stand there at his mercy. 

“Which man do you love, Anisa?” Al Sah-him asked harshly. 

The question made her still completely and meet his eyes with something other than a glare. She looked at him, into those eyes that she knew so well, into the face of the man she had been relearning for the past month. “There is only one man to love,” she replied softly. Because there was no other answer and all the fight left her completely. This was the same man that she had given her heart to, the same man who she knew cared for her greatly, no matter how he chose to acknowledge that in the present days. 

Al Sah-him’s other hand rose to her face again, this time cupping it gently from one side. His thumb stroked over her cheek and Anisa found herself relaxing even more. “Yes,” he finally said softly. “There is only one man to love and that man is a killer. You knew that when you demanded to marry him. You knew what would be expected of you as his wife and you accepted that, yet you still fail to submit to me.”

“I…” again, Anisa was at a loss for words that day. 

Al Sah-him stepped away, removing his hold before coming around her in a circle, his gaze dark once again. “You need to trust me, Anisa, because this is the only possible road for us to walk. And there are only two choices available for you: either you trust me or you fear me.” 

“Are you threatening me?” the accusation flew out of the blonde’s mouth, her eyebrows narrowing as she turned her head to glare at her husband. 

“Not yet,” he replied, his own brows set low over his eyes. The pair stood facing each again silently, the tension growing between them once again. “Undress me,” Al Sah-him broke the silence with a command. 

Anisa blinked, not ready to move past the conflict that they have built, but her husband’s face was set in a hard mask and she knew she wouldn’t be able to get another word out of him right now. With a sigh, she stepped towards him. 

This process had become a ritual for most nights over the past month, much to Anisa’s reluctance. It wasn’t that she didn’t like undressing her husband, quite the contrary, it was just the matter of how long it took and the fact that he didn’t appreciate her touching him inappropriately in the process. Still, slowly the blonde was beginning to grow fond of it, especially after she learnt the origins of it. 

It was something that had come to soothe the woman. The ritual had a history that was nearly as long as that of the League itself. It was a prime example of the closeness and trust that existed between the Demon’s Head and his consort. The fact that Al Sah-him allowed her to handle his weapons was an honour that some wives have managed to lose during their husband’s rule. In the first few nights he had taken her through the process, showing where every weapon was kept on his person. Anisa had been mesmerized. She couldn’t ignore the amount of power that she held in her hands with those weapons as she lay them beside each other on the table. She could understand why a Ra’s might be unwilling to grant someone such open access to so many weapons when he was at his most vulnerable. One small knife was all it could take to kill a sleeping man, and there would be no guards in the room to stop her. 

The weapons were removed first, then came the clothes. Anisa kept silent as she went about the task, her mind still in deep thought. Finally finishing, she came to stand before him, a low sigh coming out of her mouth as she raised her gaze to meet his again. Al Sah-him didn’t say a word before taking over. His touch was as soft as usual when he removed her garments and the blonde had to grit her teeth not to let him soothe away her anger so simply. But it was hard, especially when his fingers wove through her hair, removing the pins from it and smoothing out the locks to lie across the bare back. 

“Go lie down on the bed,” she heard him order lowly from behind her. 

“No,” she snapped at him quietly, spinning on her heel to face her husband. “I am not going to bed until we finish talking about this.” She pointed an accusing finger at him and was half tempted to poke it into his chest. 

Al Sah-him however, didn’t as much as lift an eyebrow at her refusal. He stood as still as he did before, his gaze unchanged and focused on her. A few choice words ran through the woman’s head. Over the past month she had learned that when she refused to obey a simple order the man would stand there as still as a stone, not saying a word until she did as he said. Anisa found it quite amusing at first until it became frustrating and the desire to smack him made itself known. And no amount of words from her would make him budge from his position. 

Gritting her teeth together, Anisa made her way over to the bed, dropping on it with enough force to make herself bounce before she settled in the middle. It was very childish, but the woman convinced herself that it was not as childish as actually smacking her fearsome warrior of a husband. It would most likely do nothing but amuse that bastard anyway. 

“Grab onto the headboard with both hands,” Al Sah-him said quietly. 

The blonde tensed for a moment, hey eyes narrowing. Whatever game the Heir was playing, she did not like it. It didn’t help that she didn’t know anything about what he wanted to do. So with another sigh, she obeyed. 

She had little time to protest once he came to stand beside the bed. The rope appeared out of nowhere, quickly tying her wrists to the headboard. That’s when she started to panic. 

“Let me go!” she hissed, real anger coming through her voice as she pulled on her restraints as Al Sah-him settled on one side of the bed, not touching her. There were a few times over the past month on the nights that were particularly heated, her husband ended up restraining both of her hands above her head with one of his own, all the while continuing with the rapid pace of sex that he had set. Anisa was too forgone in her pleasure by that point to even think on how she felt about being restrained. But this was different. And she did not like it. “Let go!” she snapped again, her voice growing louder. 

“Anisa,” Al Sah-him’s calm, even voice came from beside her. He lay on his side, the weight of his upper body supported by his left arm. “I want you to listen to me. If you do not like my proposition then I will untie you and we will go to sleep. Do you understand that?” he asked, his tone soothing. 

The woman’s jaw was clenched, her anger clouding her mind by that point. What on Earth did he think he was doing? His previous words of threats swam to mind, before being pushed away by the vow he made to her on their wedding night. He would never hurt her. She knew that in her heart. And he would never touch her against her will, she also knew that. There were a few nights in the past month when she wasn’t willing to dwell into their frequent devious activities and Al Sah-him simply nodded his head in understanding at that, took her hand and led her to bed. What was happening now was infuriating and annoying and confusing. 

“Fine,” she finally answered, her cold tone remaining unchanged. Anisa’s eyes were focused on the canopy above the bed, unwilling to meet his blue orbs. 

“I have a little game in mind,” Al Sah-him continued with her permission, his own tone light. “A sexual one. It has only one very specific rule. You will tell me what to do and I will touch you however you please. Those touches will be limited by your own wishes.”

A frown creased the blonde’s forehead and finally she turned to face him, her entire face coloured by confusion. “What’s the point of this?” 

“The point, my dear Anisa, is for you to be able to trust me,” he replied seriously. 

Understanding begun to dawn on her. This wasn’t about sex, it was about power, the power that he was very willingly offering to hand over to her on that night. Anisa couldn’t help but feel guilty for even thinking that her husband would ever take advantage of her in such a state. “And if I refuse?” she asked quietly.

“Then we will go to sleep and I will find another way for you to understand that you can trust me,” Al Sah-him replied easily. 

She looked at him for several more moments, still frowning slightly in confusion. For the most part, their sexual activities have been led solely by him, and Anisa never had anything to complain about. The pleasure she experienced during those nights was not something she could ever measure and her husband had a way of channeling the dominance that was expected of him in the League, into their bedroom activities in such a way that made the woman’s legs wobble for days after the intense orgasms swept through her entire body. 

Nevertheless, even with that in mind, Anisa could admit that their sex life hardly strayed anywhere far from normal, so much so, that the ropes were a complete shock to her. There was no need to travel down roads that promised more adventures in their bedroom, not at this point at least. The couple was more then content with each other. 

But the game that her husband proposed did sound promising and she was willing to try it, more so for the fact that it was a trust exercise rather than the sex itself. 

“Alright,” she finally gave her agreement, her eyes searching his with some curiosity. Anisa paused for a moment, unused to being the one to give orders. 

Al Sah-him gave her an encouraging smile. “What would you like me to do?” he asked softly. 

“I want you to kiss me,” the blonde answered, her voice surprisingly firm. 

“Kiss you where?” the man raised an amused eyebrow.

“On my mouth,” she growled at him, her impatience growing. 

With a small smirk, Al Sah-him lowered his lips atop of hers. The kiss was gentle and Anisa took that opportunity to make it into something more. Her tongue stroked her husband’s closed lips and they parted under her touch. She took the time to taste his mouth, her tongue stroking against his, taking the lead. The blonde’s cheeks were flushed as heat started spreading through her body. It was an unfamiliar situation. Normally Al Sah-him’s hands would be on her already, stroking, teasing. She had to remind herself that she needed to tell him what to do.

Pulling back slightly, Anisa met his eyes once again, already breathing a little heavily. “Now kiss me all the way from my mouth down to my chest,” she breathed out. 

She saw a pleased light in Al Sah-him’s eyes before he lowered his head once again. His lips were very soft, touches feather-light as he kissed her along her jawline and down her neck, which didn’t appeal to the woman as much as she thought it would. 

“Harder,” she said, more used to the hickeys he usually left on her neck than this. 

The man complied, sucking the skin into his mouth lightly before moving onto the next spot. He kept his hands off her, both pressed into the mattress to hold his weight as he hovered over her. The Heir’s stubble grazed her flesh, leaving the skin tingling as it moved further. Finally, he reached one of her breasts. The hardened nipple was standing firm at the top, begging for attention. Al Sah-him took it into his mouth, his tongue swirling the pink bud as his wife arched her back under him. 

“More,” Anisa breathed out, the pleasure building within her already. “Your hand,” she continued when he didn’t comply with he vague instructions. “I want your hand on my breast.” 

Only after that did she get what she wanted. The Heir’s large hand encompassed her left breast almost completely, nipple being locked and massaged gently between two of his fingers. 

“Harder. Use your teeth,” Anisa insisted again, her voice turning harsher as her body started to writhe under him.

The blonde moaned, throwing her head back as her husband gently grazed her nipple with his teeth. 

“Switch to the other side.”

She was surprised that she was able to make complete sentences without stuttering by that stage. Al Sah-him moved without a word, switching his hold so that now her right breast rested in his hand and her left nipple found its way into his mouth. 

“Can you make me orgasm while only touching my breasts?” 

The challenging inquiry made the man pause completely in his movements. He raised his head to meet his wife’s eyes, an eyebrow raised. “Is that a question or a request?” he asked lowly. 

The heated look that was exchanged between the pair spurred Anisa on. “Oh that was definitely a request,” she stated matter-of-factly. 

“Then it will be granted,” he growled at her. The growl alone was enough to make arousal pool between her thighs. 

Al Sah-him lowered his head again, this time putting all his efforts into the task. She always knew that he was diligent and he had proved that diligence also encompassed the primal pleasures on many nights in the past month. Anisa’s toes curled and her foot slid up the covers, left leg bending as the man lightly pulled on her nipple with his teeth, the pressure building into something very familiar within her body. 

A moan escaped her lips, hands straining against the ropes as the blonde tried to lower them to his head. Her body was sinking deeper into the bed, all strength leaving her as tendrils of pleasure tickled her sex. Her feet curled, seeking the Heir’s legs but they were on the other side of the bed. All other thoughts were gone at the moment, her mind focused only on the wave that was building within her with each little tug on her nipples, each little bite of her flesh. 

Al Sah-him’s hand squeezed her breast, pushing his thumb into the nipple that was already wet from his mouth, rubbing slow agonizing circles atop it while he sucked hard on the other one. His free hand stroked the underside of that breast.

“Oh God,” Anisa breathed above him. The muscles of her limbs were tensing, her clit engorged and sensitive without even being touched. Her husband’s alteration between soft touches and harder pulls was making her breathing turn into pants. The blonde’s legs tensed, her back arched and in the next moment the orgasm was washing over her. It was not the type that ripped a scream of pleasure from Anisa, but rather the kind that made her want to ride out on its waves for minutes and minutes onward, never letting go of the slowly ebbing release. 

“I want you inside me,” she whispered, her eyes focused on the ceiling, hips rocking ever so slightly, unwilling to let go of the pleasure. 

Al Sah-him raised his head from her chest to meet her eyes. His gaze was dark, his own arousal very apparent. The man positioned himself between her legs, his forearms coming to form the familiar cage either side of her head. “How many more orgasms would you like, Anisa?” he rumbled above her, the head of his cock barely rushing against her entrance. 

The pleasure and the challenging look in his eyes spurred the blonde into saying something she wouldn’t have in a coherent sate of mind. “Four,” she said quietly, her tongue coming out to lick her bottom lip to tease the man. 

Her husband’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Are you sure you can handle that, Anisa?” he raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Oh yes, pretty damn sure.” 

Her resolve didn’t waver and her chin rose up a few inches to return the intensity in Al Sah-him’s eyes with equal force. This night was about her taking control, her pleasure and she would be an idiot if she didn’t take everything that was offered to her. 

“Very well,” Al Sah-him said, his voice rough from arousal before he slid inside of her. Their mutual groans perpetrated the air as his cock dwelled deeper and deeper into her until it was sheathed completely. The Heir paused there, letting Anisa adjust to having him inside her. “I hope you have enough stamina for this,” he growled into her ear, remaining unmoving.

“I guess we will learn tonight if those countless hours in the training room have paid off.” 

Al Sah-him’s expression morphed into an aggressive one for only a moment, before his arousal took over him again and he started to move slowly, sliding almost all the way out and then all the way in again. He supported his weight on his legs fully as his hands lowered to her ass, grabbing a tight hold of it and turning her hips to better angle them with his. 

Anisa couldn’t hold back her moans and groans anymore. Tonight her pleasure built itself slowly until it came to a crescendo that stretched for minutes after it broke. A shudder went through her as the man’s fingers brushed along where their bodies met, over her glistening lower lips and her clit. The pace of his hips sped up ever so slightly, his member sliding into her with force. And the first orgasm broke through her, Al Sah-him’s name leaving her mouth in a breath. 

He waited out until the blonde’s limbs relaxed again before changing the pace. A cry pierced the air as the Heir’s length drove into his wife in a brutal pace, eliciting more then one scream from her as she clung on to him with her legs for dear life. His gaze was completely taken over by the primitive need of pleasure as he lowered his head to her neck again, letting his teeth sink into her skin. The second orgasm took a lot less time to reach. When Anisa came she screamed her husband’s name, her head thrown back, no longer able to focus on anything other then rocking her hips, driving herself closer to more and more pleasure. 

Al Sah-him growled, his resistance starting to wear off, his own orgasm now within a hand’s reach if he let himself go. But he promised his wife to do whatever she desired and he was a man of his word. A snarl ripped itself from his throat and he found her clit again with his right hand as his left squeezed tighter around her hip. His muscles worked in earnest, the speed of the thrusts slowing slightly but the power never lessening. The man’s free hand slid down the blonde’s thigh to hook under her knee and lift the leg up giving him an even deeper angle.

Anisa wasn’t capable of forming coherent words by that stage, the bed shook, the thrusts never ended and in the next moment her husband was pressing down hard on her clit until another orgasm ripped through her. 

Her shoulders shook with sobs of pleasure, breaths coming out of her mouth in short bursts. She moaned again, the sound desperate for release, her sex so stimulated by that point that every little stroke from Al Sah-him’s fingers or cock caused tsunamis of sweet pleasure to wash over her. 

She was trying to say something, to beg for something, but the sounds leaving her mouth were too garbled to understand and even if they weren’t the man wasn’t certain that he would understand them in the state that he was in. 

The expression on Al Sah-him’s face was one of pain as he drove in thrust after thrust, the controlled movements becoming more and more erratic. He bowed his head and bit into his own lip until he could taste blood. He couldn’t hold on for much longer. 

Anisa’s hips could no longer keep up with her husband’s thrusts. Her cheeks were flushed red, her gaze unable to focus on anything, the sounds leaving her lips were somewhere between moans and whimpers. Without the blonde’s direction, her inner muscles locked like a vice around Al Sah-him’s length, setting off his release. 

A feral growl came from the man, his fingers becoming rougher on her clit, pulling and pinching until she followed him moments later, coming around his cock, squeezing even tighter around him as she threw her head back, screaming as she came. 

With shaking arms, the Heir was able to reach out and undo the ropes around Anisa’s wrists before collapsing onto his side and bringing her with him. The woman’s arm wrapped around his middle and the two lay still, both breathing heavily, their bodies covered in perspiration, holding each other close.

They lay like that for more then ten minutes, not talking, waiting for their heartbeats to reach a calm level. Al Sah-him was surprised by his wife’s words when she broke the silence.

“Can we do that again sometime?” 

He raised an eyebrow and titled his head to look down at the woman. Her forehead had been pressed against the top of his shoulder, but she shifted her head away to be able to look at him properly. 

“You want to torture me some more like that?” Al Sah-him drawled out, a note of accusation slipping into his tone as his hand rising to cup her cheek and tilt her head up. But the woman smirked up at him and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes, we can do that again,” he said softly, his thumb stroking over her cheek.

Silence fell over them again, their gazes focused on each other now. 

“I am sorry for being so rash,” the Heir broke the silence this time, his voice quiet but serious. “I shouldn’t have tied you up like that. I was angry.” 

Anisa’s eyebrows rose in surprise at his declaration. “You had a right to be,” she said softly, raising her hand to his face to stroke a finger along the line of his jaw. “I was angry too. It’s…not simple. None of this is. I want to there for you, Al Sah-him. I want to be the consort of the Demon’s Head. But it’s just so much to take in.”

“I understand,” he nodded his head slightly, voice barely louder then a whisper. His large finger traveled along her cheekbone before he sighed heavily, lowering his hand completely. “Ra’s has set the date,” he proclaimed. “Two weeks from today.”

The blonde stilled completely, her hand hovering an inch from his face where she was stroking it. “That’s why you pushed so hard,” she whispered, her own hand lowering, staring wide-eyed at the man. 

“That’s the only reason,” Al Sah-him asserted. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his body as he lowered his head. “We need to be ready, Anisa,” he spoke quietly before meeting her eyes once again. “A fortnight from now I will ascend to the position of Ra’s al Ghul and nothing will be as it was before.” 

The statement hung in the air with the intensity that it warranted.

“Does it mean that I will be expected to have children now?” Anisa asked. 

“No,” came her husband’s reply without any hesitation. “You are not ready to have children yet.” 

The relief that washed over her was mixed with a little surprise at the firmness of his tone. 

“Anisa,” his fingers were at her chin, tilting her head up. “You’ve come this far and I am proud of you for doing so. What you went through in the past month was a great shock, yet you still remained strong and did your best to fulfill all of your duties. What you need to understand is that in our new home things won’t be given to you until you are ready for them. That includes your position as the Priestess of Life as well as your duty to bear heirs.” His fingers moved to stroke through her hair. “You will decide when you are ready to have children and you won’t do so until you fully comprehend what their lives will be like in the League.” 

Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as a huge weight lifted itself off the woman’s shoulders. She didn’t shift her gaze from her husband’s eyes for the longest time, and she realized in that moment that Al Sah-him was not as hard to love as she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw a post on tumblr ages ago that said that in America people don't have the word fortnight? It's just a word that means two weeks, if anyone is confused. 
> 
> What did you guys think? Let me know in the comments. 
> 
> This chapter took longer to write then I thought it would. I don't really have a plan for this story, I do have several other ideas on what I want to write and I think I want to include some shorter chapters in here. Do you have any preferences? 
> 
> Send in your prompts on any specific scenes/ideas that you want to see in here. I am more than happy to hear them. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading :3
> 
> Say hi to me on Tumblr
> 
> [theonlyoneofherkind](http://theonlyoneofherkind.tumblr.com)


	3. The Contemplations of Al Sah-him

So far, Al Sah-him had carried the title of Ra’s al Ghul for sixteen years. Generally speaking, it was a very small portion of the reign of one man over the most feared and deadly group in the world. And Al Sah-him intended to live for a handful of centuries along with his wife with the help of the Lazarus Pit. 

To most people, however, sixteen years could be considered at least a third of their complete career. There have been many achievements over the years of which the Demon’s Head could be proud of, and the most recent of those was the complete erasure of a Russian warlord. Along with the killing of the man and all those who had counted themselves within the highest ranks of his command, the life’s work of the warlord had been dismantled completely. That was where Anisa had done her part. 

Al Sah-him was quite skeptical at first when his wife proposed to add a communications division to the League. Her ideas went against the core values held within the League, the values that the organization has been growing with for so many years. So he had refused her. He couldn’t help but see those wishes as a hope to reach back to her former self, to the woman she was before they came to Nanda Parbat. And he couldn’t have that. Months and years passed, and every so often Anisa would bring the topic back. Every time it became harder to brush off for Al Sah-him, especially when the idea sunk into his head and it became impossible to ignore it on some occasions when he was out working. They were more than a decade into the twenty first century, even if their craft was ancient in its origins. Finally, he relented and allowed Anisa along with Najib, one of his lieutenants, to organize the newest division of the League. Because as hard as the League might try to deny it, in the modern age, killing a person and their immediate followers can do very little to fix a problem completely. 

Those were their most complicated jobs, the ones that the Demon’s Head led himself. They were a nice challenge in the minds of what Al Sah-him could deal with with his eyes closed. He had made the League his home. Ruling over it had become second nature to him. 

The man could say that he was content with his life. His reign had been unquestioned for more than five years, and those who dared challenge him before for the position of Ra’s al Ghul had met their end at the tip of his sword. The number of new recruits had been steady and the number of deaths of his own was slowly declining. His relationship with Anisa couldn’t be stronger. The pair of them have changed a lot in the past fourteen years, but they have managed to persevere through everything that came their way. More credit for that could be given to his wife than him, and Al Sah-him couldn’t be happier with her.

They had their disagreements, of course, but they have learned to deal with them in a different way since their wedding that allowed them to skirt around his new commanding and uncompromising nature. They have both grown stronger together, beside each other.

Al Sah-him should have been more than happy with everything that his life had bestowed on him, however, there was one thing the thought of which clouded his content moods: his children. 

The Demon was perhaps the only one who saw the existence of any problem when it came to his offspring. It was easy to miss even when one was watching them, like he was doing now. 

The man was sitting crossed legged beneath a tree on a small hill about thirty yards away from the walls of Nanda Parbat, his eyes focused on Rida, Zakia and Majid as they played in the courtyard. The children’s feet were bare as two of them balanced on a rope that had been tied between two trees with the help of a guard. From the distance he could only catch the notes of their talk and laughter. 

Al Sah-him had been sitting here for some time, quietly contemplating. There was really nothing peculiar about the children, not unless one were to look very closely. They went to their lessons, they played, they found themselves in all sorts of mischief. Everything was almost the same as it always was. Almost. 

Ra’s, along with everyone else, did not fail to notice that a lot has changed since he was resurrected from the Lazarus Pit before Rida was born. There was an invisible kind of tension that seemed to have lifted off that allowed everyone to breathe just a little easier. Life continued as it always did within Nanda Parbat, the soldiers were trained with the same precision, the daily functions and other rituals remained the same. 

But the mood has shifted and his entire family grew closer to one another, each in their own little ways. Everything seemed to have become more….personal in a way. 

Al Sah-him’s gaze shifted as he saw his youngest daughter leave her siblings behind. The five-year-old girl was racing towards him, unconcerned with the heat of the hard ground beneath her bare feet and the wind that blew through her untamed hair. Zakia came to a swift stop a few feet in front of the Demon, her cheeks red and her eyes dancing.

“Father,” she greeted him with a shy smile, still not having caught her breath. “Would you like to play with us? You look lonely on your hill. And sad.”

Ra’s raised his eyebrows at the girl’s statements, amusements flickering in his gaze. Zakia bounced on the balls of her feet, unable to stay still as she waited for his reply. She was the most outspoken child, the one who liked to sneak her way into the communications room in her spare time, the one who liked to tinker with the spare bits of computers much like her mother did at her age. Out of all her siblings, Zakia’s nature resembled Anisa’s the most, much like Ibn’s resembled his. The man suspected that it might become problematic in the later parts of her training.

“I think I will,” he said finally, his tone light. Al Sah-him gave his daughter a small smile in reply to her grin. The man rose to his feet and made his way over to where Rida and Majid were trying to make the other lose their balance while standing on the rope that was tied a mere foot off the ground. 

Perhaps there was something wrong with his children, but the Demon couldn’t put his finger on it. And he didn’t feel like doing so on that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. I actually didn't finish writing anything for anything since I last updated this story. I wanted to post a new fic in a new fandom, but I've got writer's block for that. I am still going to get it done, it just ended up standing in the way of all my other writing stuff. 
> 
> This chapter is quite different from the others, I hope you guys liked it. For ease of navigating through this series I made a timeline which can be found [here](http://theonlyoneofherkind.tumblr.com/post/126480170228/within-the-walls-of-nanda-parbat). It will be updated every time I post a new chapter. 
> 
> What did you guys think? Kudos and comments would be much appreciated. And I am always open to prompts for future chapters. Thank you everyone for your continued support ^^ 
> 
> Say hi to me on tumblr
> 
> [theonlyoneofherkind](http://theonlyoneofherkind.tumblr.com)


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